Illinois will see two gymnasts travel to Fort Worth, Texas, looking for a shot at an NCAA national title.

Juniors Mia Takekawa and Mia Townes have reached the highest level of competition in collegiate athletics, but their journeys have been very different this season.

Takekawa has spent the season anchoring the Illini, breaking program records and earning first-team Big Ten and All-American honors.

“(Takekawa) models the examples of what consistency looks like,” said head coach Nadalie Walsh. “It has bred a level of belief in the athletes in themselves. She’s a trusted athlete on the team, someone they can confide in.”

Townes, on the other hand, spent nearly a month away from the team battling COVID-19, strep throat, pneumonia and injuries. But she still managed to put on spectacular performances for Illinois without much training, excelling in the postseason for Illinois.

“(Townes) is a shining example of what it looks like to overcome adversity — a great example of what it means to be very mentally strong, to be confident no matter what the circumstances are,” Walsh said. “When she was healthy and able, she had so much confidence, she could go out there and hit every single routine that she was put out there to do with minimal training.”

Takekawa and Townes will be the first Illini gymnasts to represent the school at the NCAA women’s gymnastics championship since All-American Rae Balthazor (‘20) did so in 2018. While Takekawa and Townes weren’t on the team when she traveled to the NCAAs, she was a senior during their freshman year and often felt the amount of leadership and confidence she radiated every day.

“Being able to be on a team with (Balthazor) was really great to be able to learn from the leadership she showed in our freshman year,” Takekawa said. “She had so much confidence in her gymnastics. Just seeing her determination and the way she led in the gym not only with gymnastics but as a character was really great as a role model to have.”

“After that competition, she actually texted me and said, ‘I’m so proud of you,’” Townes said. “Her just leaving that legacy is something we’re aspiring to be.”

Takekawa will compete for the bars title, while Townes will look to take the vault title. Though it’s been over a week since they found out they were national qualifiers, the title hasn’t sunk in.

“I have had on my mirror a little sticky note that says ‘national qualifier’ since the beginning of preseason,” Takekawa said. “To be able to speak those words into existence has been really gratifying, and I’m really grateful that the team was at regionals and being able to support me and Townes through those great performances. It feels really gratifying to have all that work as an individual pay off at the end of the season.”

“This year I didn’t think that I was going to be able to do very much just because of how many setbacks I had,” Townes said. “I’m extremely grateful.”

The rest of the Illinois team didn’t have the same luck, failing to qualify for the regional finals by 0.075 points, something that the whole team is looking to improve on.

“If the ladies can take away the mindset, ‘What can I do to make sure that I cover my own .075 everyday?,’ then we’ll be an entirely different level better,” Walsh said. “This team and the culture is in the right place to be able to take that next step.”

Both Takekawa and Townes hope that their nationals experience will be the start of seeing more Illinois leos at NCAA championships in the coming years.

“Seeing Illinois at the national stage will be really good for our team’s presence within the NCAA,” Takekawa said.

“We have some pretty intense goals for our team — to go to Nationals by ourselves and then go back to the team to relay the message of how exciting it is, how fun it is, to help them continue to be motivated and driven to where the team goals are for next year,” Townes said. “I would rather have my team there, it’s a great goal, but for me winning a national championship with my team is something that’s way higher than this.”

In the meantime, Takekawa and Townes will continue to fight, showing that they deserve this opportunity, backed by their Illinois family. 

“They belong there,” Walsh said. “They are championship-type athletes.”

@JonathanAlday7

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